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The Izan Counterattack
Three Arcanum mages are patrolling a region of disputed Human/Orcan territory during the first few months of the Orcan Invasion. They are a special artillery unit en route to bombard the city of Izan as a counterattack, riding on horseback from a Forward Operating Base a few kilometers southwest. With them, they've brought about a quarter-ton of elemental Osmium in a horse-drawn carriage. By mid-day, they arrive at their location. Intelligence has told them that the Orcans in the city are reorganizing their front after a few successful skirmishes with Human forces. Their task is to bombard the city, especially the garrisoned command at the center, with direct fire using a Cooperation Technique the military refers to as the Gauss-Motion Cannon. Each caster needs to be at least the Gnosis level necessary to use the individual techniques needed for the cooperation technique to function. Exceeding these levels is helpful, as the complexity of the technique subtracts the average of all Gnosis levels required from each caster, rounded up. So 3 +2 +1 divided by 3 = 2. So 2 dice are removed from all casters' dice pools to represent the complexity of the cooperation technique. The larger their dice pool, the less likely these penalties will affect the outcome harmfully. It takes the 4 casters 3 rounds to create one projectile to be fired on the same round it finishes. Every 3 rounds, a projectile can be fired. The round does 10L AP 9 + 10 Lethal automatic. The explosive radius is 20M. Those caught in the blast may make a dodge roll that must beat the combined MoS for each caster to only take the automatic damage. These team members have trained together and have the same stats, which are the following: * Strength: 3 * Dexterity: 3 * Weaponry: 2 * Athletics: 4 * Stamina: 3 * Composure: 3 * Brawl: 3 * Wits: 5 * Intelligence: 4 * Gnosis: 5 Here is the breakdown of several relevant rolls: * Close Armed Combat: Dexterity (3) + Weaponry (2) = 5 minus defense and armor. * Close Unarmed Combat: Strength (3) + Brawl (3) = 6 minus defense and armor. * Dodge: Dexterity (3) + Athletics (4) = 7 * Parry: Dexterity (3) + Weaponry (2) = 5 * Block: Dexterity (3) + Brawl (3) = 6 * Cast: Gnosis (5) + Intelligence (4) = 9 * Defense: lower of Dexterity (3) or Wits (4) + Armor (3) = 6. Defense will subtract 6 dice from the first opponent, 5 from the second, 4 from the third, 3 from the fourth, and 3 from anything else, as his armor doesn't decrease unless damaged itself or negated in some way. His defensive ability, that is, his ability to keep himself from being hurt when attacked, is 3, and so gives him +3 to his armor, but it becomes less effective as multiple opponents strike. In total, his Defense is 6, but 3 of those are always going to take away 3 dice (armor), and 3 of those are going to decrease by 1 for every attack at the same time until he just has armored defense. Since there is no combat going on, the creation of the barrel is uncontested. The Magnetic caster attempts to cast Metalize to re-purpose a large barrel full of elemental Osmium and rolls 9 dice, needing to beat a 5, as the spell is Rank A. Luckily, she rolls at least one 6, an MoS of 1. The Osmium condenses and shapes, almost like liquid. She then rolls to create the barrel properly, in which she rolls her Dexterity (3) + Crafts (5), 8 dice, needing to beat a 5 again. She succeeds again rolling a 6, an MoS of 1, and the barrel forms just as she's done time and time again in training. The barrel has some degree of movement, and is currently pointing at a particularly large building downrange. Finally, she uses the Osmium from another barrel to shape a round, rolling 9 dice and getting an MoS of 1 for Metalize, as well as he craft roll. The silvery-gray material is shaped just as it needs to be. She does this five times, nestling each round into a stack. Continuing, she holds the first round in the air. The Lava caster whistles, always impressed with his companion's skills. He starts immediately on creating an orb of lava to run the projectiles through. He rolls 9 dice, needing to beat a 2, as the Molta technique is Rank D. He easily succeeds with a 5, an MoS of 3, and creates a sizable, molten orb for which he must remain concentrated on to keep afloat. If he were under attack or hurt, he would have to roll Wits (5) + Composure (3) to keep the orb floating. He knows that if he fails, that orb of liquid lava would be quite painful to be near. The Land caster walks over and touches the cold metal, and attempts to cast Lighten. He rolls 9 dice and needs to beat a 1--effortlessly, he alters the Osmium to be much lighter with a 5, and MoS of 4. Ready and able, the casters begin their artillery process. The Magnetic caster is the ranking officer, and controls the rate of fire. She moves the round into the lava, and allows it to become heated for two rounds. Whilst this occurs, she sets her sights on the building. She then attempts to cast Gauss-Burst, rolling 9-2 = 7 dice (due to the penalty of this cooperation technique), needing to beat a 3. She gets a 7, an MoS of 4. Electricity shoots through the barrel and the round white-hot round shrieks through, cutting the air and blasting down the hill at full throttle. In the distance, the Land caster notes the blast was a direct hit, and seemed to rupture at the base of the building. "Direct hit. Reload." The next round is lightened, superheated, and screams through the air. This time, the building partially collapses. Orcans are running around, and quickly attempt to mobilize. The Land caster points out a nearby Orcan scout group to their flank. The Magnetic caster moves the barrel to their right, and plugs the third round into the barrel, firing directly on the Orcan squad bearing down on them 100M away. On this roll, she rolls a 5, an MoS of 2, the Lava caster's MoS was 3 originally, and the Land caster's MoS this firing was a 5. Combined, this is 10 MoS. The 8 Orcans all have a Dodge score of 7 (Dexterity 3 + Athletics 4), and a Defense score of 6 (Dexterity 3 + Armor 3). They are all able to make a dodge roll. The round does 10L AP 9 + 10 Lethal automatic. The explosive radius is 20M. Those caught in the blast may make a dodge roll that must beat the combined MoS for each caster to only take the automatic damage. To be successful, each of the Orcans must meet or exceed a 10 to sustain the automatic 10L. If they fail, they sustain 20L damage in total. As none of the Orcans have a high enough die modifier to reach anything higher than 7 by rolling D6s, they are all obliterated as the caterwauling round of molten Osmium explodes on contact with the stony ground, sending various-sized globules of 700°C lava and Osmium through their bodies at speeds of ~160km/h. "Direct hit. Reload." The casters take a moment to catch their breath an assess their situation. The Magnetic caster holds action. The Land caster pipes up that Orcans are likely converging on this spot. About 50 meters away, an ear-popping crack is felt and both the barrel of the cannon and the heads of the casters whip around to see a large, tattooed Orcan with a staff, wearing a matte black material with several crystal inlays. Without hesitation, the Magnetic caster fires her fourth round straight at who she recognizes to be one of the leaders of the Black Fist Tribe. She rolls a 4, an MoS of 1, combined with the MoS of 3 and 5 of the other casters, this amounts to 9 total. The Orcan leader has a Dodge score of 10 (Dexterity 5 + Athletics 5), and a Defense score of 10 (Dexterity 5 + Armor 5). The material he's wearing is called Vantablack Metal, and resists magical energies and powerful forces. The crystals also house a magical ward, which boasts an additional defensive bonus of + 5, bringing his total defense to 15 (Dexterity 5 + Armor 5 + Ward 5) . If he were to be hit directly, his armor would be stronger than the AP of the round, but he would likely not survive the attack damage plus the automatic damage of 20L. He attempts to dodge, rolling 10 dice and needing to beat a 9. He is bolstered by powerful magic, and so rolls D10s instead of D6s. He gets two 9s, which count as a 10, an MoS of 1, and narrowly dodges out of the way of the shot, which lands several meters behind him, and his armor soaks the automatic 10L of molten Osmium and lava as it is meant for withstanding magical attacks such as these. Unfortunately, the +5 ward has been used up, bringing his armor down by 5 points for a total Defense score of 10 (Dexterity 5 + Armor 5 + Ward 0). The three casters converge on the Orcan, currently moving to stand up, and is not attempting to dodge. The Lava caster takes the orb of lava he's created, and attempts to hurdle the contents at the Orcan as a standard Molta technique, which does 3L AP 3, but the AP here doesn't affect the Orcan's armor. Magical techniques that do damage are usually denoted as X(Bashing, Lethal, Aggravated), APX, + X automatic. In this case, the spell Molta does 3L AP 3, which means it defeats 3 Armor points automatically (unless there is an exception, like anti-magic wards and armor), and does lethal damage--3 lethal damage if it connects, and an X lethal damage for every MoS. This technique does not do "automatic" damage, which usually occurs if there is an additional effect like a blast radius or another effect that simply can't be dodged. With regards to the artillery attack, the round defeats 9 armor, and does 10L + MoS Lethal damage of the casters to whatever it connects with, but when it explodes, anything caught in the blast radius, even if someone happened to dodge the round, takes the "+ 10L automatic damage". He rolls 9-5 = 4 dice, needing to beat a 2, as the Molta technique is Rank D. He succeeds, rolling a 5, an MoS of 3, causing 3L + 3L, 6L total, bathing the Orcan in liquid hell. Simultaneously, the Land caster attempts to cast Gravitas, which is A Rank. He spends a willpower point, and rolls 9+3 = 12 dice, and must beat a 5. He rolls a two 6s, making a 7, MoS of 2, and inundates the area around the Orcan with a powerful gravitational field, collapsing him into the pool of lava. The Magnetic caster knocks over the fifth round, and attempts to launch it into the Orcan using Gauss-Burst, Rank C. She rolls 9 dice, and must beat a 3--she gets a 5, an MoS of 2, and the round plows through the lava and hits the Orcan center-mass, causing an additional 2L. All told, the Orcan takes 8L altogether, and the Gravitas technique means he cannot move from his position for MoS rounds (2), causing him to take an additional 6L. From what can be seen, the armor stays intact, but the body dissolves as skin boils and hair burns. It's unsightly, and the casters are exhausted, causing them to become Winded. Their mission a success--perhaps even more-so than expected--the team quickly jump onto their horses, abandoning their supplies, and ride back to their encampment, keeping their heads on a swivel for more enemies.